Expanding point for bearing piles.



, PATENTED JULY 25, 1905.

H. R. STANFORD. EXPANDING POINT FOR BEARING FILES.

APPLIOATION FILED MABHS, 1905.

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HOMER REED STANFORD, OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY.

EXPANDING POINT FOR BEARING PILES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 25, 1905.

Application filed March 3, 1905- Serial No. 248,339-

To all whom, it 712,614 concern: 1

Be it known that I, HOMER REED STAN- FORD, of the United States Navy, acitizen of the United States, temporarily residing at Pensacola, in thecounty of Escambia and State of Florida, have invented new and usefulImprovements in Expanding Points-for Bearing Piles, of which thefollowing is a specification.

My invention relates to piles; and it consists more particularly in apile-point provided with pivoted levers or wings which remain in asubstantially vertical position while the pile is being driven and whichcan be swung out into a horizontal position when the pile has reachedthe desired depth, whereby a broad and solid base-plate is provided forthe pile to rest upon.

It is well known that in many kinds of soil it is impossible with a pileof any reasonable length to reach a stratum of rock or hard soil, and informing foundations in soils of such character it is consequentlynecessary to use piles of-eXtraordinary length, and even then {thebearing power of each pile is relatively It is the object of myinvention to enable relatively short piles to be used to formfoundations inloose and soft soils which will at the same time have avery high bearing power.

. In the accompanying drawings I have illustrated one form of myinvention as applied to a wooden pile but it will be readily understoodthat the pile-point which constitutes my invention is equally applicableto piles of other material, such as metal or concrete.

Further objects and advantages of my invention will be readily apparentfrom the following detailed description, taken in connection with theaccompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a side elevation of myinvention applied to a wooden pile, the wings being shown closed in fulllines and open in dottedlines. Fig. 2 is a plan view of my improvedpile-point. Fig. 3 is a side elevation of one of the wings detached.Fig. 4 is a plan view of Fig. 3.

In the views, 1 represents the lower end of a wooden pile, and 2represents the pointcasting, which is provided with a socket 3, in whichthe reduced end 4 of the .pile fits and in which it may be secured inany suitable way. The point-casting 2, which is circular at its upperportion where it surrounds the reduced portion 3 of the pile, is formedsquare at its lower end, and from this lower end a pair of lugs 6 7project downwardly, the same being provided with apertures 8 for thepivotpin 9 of the wings 10, to be hereinafter described. Also projectingdownwardly from the bottom 5 of the point-casting 2, midway between thelugs 6 7, is a lug 12, which extends downwardly for a considerablygreater distance than the lugs 6 and 7 and the sides of which arebeveled to correspond to conjugate bevels formed on the Wings, for apurpose to be hereinafter described.

The wings 10, each of which consists, preferably, of a castingreinforced by ribs, are both pivoted upon the pin 9, and areconsequently adapted to swing in the same vertical plane from theperpendicular position which they occupy while the pile is being drivento the horizontal osition, in which they constitute a bearinglate forthe pile to rest upon. Of course the dimensions of these wings willdepend upon the kind of soil in which the pile is to be driven and alsoupon the amount of weight which the pile is to carry. Since these wingsare exact duplicates of each other, it will only be necessary todescribe one of them in detail.

Referring now more particularly to Figs. 3 and 4, it will be seen thatthe wing has two rearwardly-projecting lugs or arms 13, in

which areformed the bearings 14 for the pivotpin 9, and that thefrontportion of the wing, rom which the saidarms project, is or may be of awidth equal to the diameter of the pile, the upper surface being coredout at 15, if desired, in order to reduce the weight of the wing. Thewing is also provided on its under side with a central recess 16, whichis adapted to fit over the central lug 12, hereinbefore mentioned, andthe lower front end of the wing is beveled, as shown at 17, so that whenthe wings are in their closed position they present a prism-shapedrecess which be.

comes filled with a plug of the material in which the pile is driven,the said plug acting as a wedge to open the wings when they are releasedfrom the holding means, which I will now describe. 7

The extreme front end of each wing is reduced, as shown at 18, and whenthe pile is in position for use a securing-band, such as shown in Fig. 1as consisting of two wroughtiron straps 19, provided at their ends witheyes 20, through which eyebolts 21 are passed,

is provided. Wires 22 are attached to the eyes of said bolts and extendupward for the length of the pile,so that when the pile has been drivennearly to its final position the said bolts can be withdrawn from theeyes of the straps 19 by pulling on the said wires 22, and thereupon bydriving the pile a short distance farther downward the wings are openedby the wedge action above referred to, only they occupy the horizontalposition shown in Fig. 2 and in Fig. 1 in dotted lines. When in thisposition, the wings abut, as shown, against the bottom 5 of thepoint-casting and also interlock with each other by shoulders 23 of oneengaging the shoulders 24 of the other. It will thus be seen that nostrain is put upon the pivot-pin 9, but that the pile rests securely onwhat is practically a solid base-plate, which plate may be as large asmay be found necessary to sustain the load desired. A hole, such asshown in dotted lines at 25 in Fig. 3, may be cored through the wings,so as to permit sand or other soil which might become pocketed in thewing and prevent the shoulder 23 from coming into contact with theshoulder 24, to escape. After the wings have been released by thewithdrawal of the eyebolts 21 the further driving of the pile, as hasbeen stated, causes the separation of the said wings, leaving the centerlug 12 to serve as a guiding-point for the pile while the wings areforced by the resistance of the soil into the horizontal position.

The term casting as used in the foregoing specification and in the,annexed claims is not intended to be a limitation to the employment of apoint constructed of cast-iron, since obviously other metals, eithercast or forged, might be employed.

While the embodiment of my invention just described is the preferredform for use in connection with wooden piles, I do not wish to limitmyself to the exact construction shown, but believe my invention to bebroadly new as expressed in the following claims.

What I claim is 1. A pile-point comprising pivoted wings and detachablemeans to normally hold said wings folded together.

2. A pile-point comprising a casting adapted to be attached to a pile,wings pivoted to said casting and means to hold said wings foldedtogether so as to lie within the area of said casting while the pile isbeing driven.

8. A pile-point comprising a casting adapted to be attached to a pile,wings pivoted to said casting, detachable means to hold said wingsfolded together so as to lie within the area of said casting while thepile is being driven, and means operable from the surface of the groundto release said detachable means when the pile has nearly reached itsfinal position whereby the final driving of the pile will cause saidwings to open.

4. The combination with a pile, of a point therefor comprising acasting, wings pivoted to said casting, means to hold said wings projectin downwardly While the pile is driven to wit 'n a short distance ofits final position, and connections running the length of the pile todetach said holding means, whereby the final driving of the pile causessaid wings to swing open, whereby they form an expanded base for thesupport of the pile.

5. A ile-point comprising a casting adapted to t over the end of a pileand having downwardly-projecting lugs, a pair of wings pivoted betweensaid lugs, means to maintain said wings normally folded together, andmeans to release said holding means, whereby the final driving of thepile causes said wings to swing into an open position.

6. A pile-point comprising a casting adapted to be attached to the endof a pile and provided with three parallel downwardly-projecting lugs, apair of wings pivoted between the two exterior lugs and provided withrecesses to inclose the central lug when said wings are foldeddownwardly, means to maintain said wings in said position while the pileis being driven, the further final driving of the pile causing saidwings to open.

7 A pile-p oint carrying pivotally suspended therefrom a plurality ofwings, means to maintain said wings in the said position during thedriving of the pile and means operable from' the surface of the groundto release said wings so as to permit the further driving of the pile toits final position to spread the wings in an open position.

8. A pile-point comprising a casting, a pair of wings pivoted thereto soas to swing outwardly therefrom in opposite directions, de-

tachable means to hold said wings folded,

the adjacent lower ends of said wings being beveled so that when saidholding means is detached further driving of the point will cause saidwings to swing apart, and means on said wings to interlock when theyreach a horizontal position.

9. The combination with a pile, of a pointcasting therefor, wingspivoted to said casting, detachable means to hold said wings foldedtogether so as to project downwardly from the pile and to lie within thearea of said casting while the pile is being driven, and a connectionrunning from said detachable means to the surface of the ground, wherebywhen the pile has nearly reached its final position, sai means can bedetached by force exerted on said connection and the wings be caused toopen by the further driving'of the pile to its final position.

In testimony whereof I have affixed my signature in presence of twosubscribing witnesses.

HOMER REED STANFORD. Witnesses:

HOWARD A. CooMBs, J. B. ROMAN.

